The number of active cases of COVID-19 reported in Saskatchewan has dipped under 100 for the first time since mid-July.
The provincial government announced Monday three new cases and 10 more recoveries. One out-of-province case has been removed from Saskatchewan’s total, meaning there are 98 active cases.
The last time that number was under 100 was July 15, when there were 75 active cases reported.
According to the government, 60 of the 98 active cases are in communal living settings such as Hutterite colonies.
The three new cases – all located in the northwest zone – increased the total number of reported cases in Saskatchewan to date to 1,602.
The 10 recoveries increased that total so far to 1,482. To date, 22 residents of the province have died due to complications from COVID-19.
Five people are in hospital, all in Saskatoon. Four people are in intensive care and one person is receiving inpatient care.
Of the total number of cases to date, 818 are community contacts, 484 don’t have any known exposures, 233 are travellers, and 67 remain under investigation by local public health officials.
The total includes 65 health-care workers.
The cases comprise 516 in the 20-to-39 age range, 492 in the 40-to-59 range, 276 between the ages of 60 and 79, 262 involving people 19 and under, and 56 in the 80-and-over range.
There have been 413 cases from the south area (213 southwest, 189 south-central, 11 southeast), 352 in the far north region (346 far northwest, six far northeast), 260 from the north area (126 northwest, 68 north-central, 66 northeast), 251 in the Saskatoon area, 194 from the central area (161 central-west, 33 central-east), and 132 in the Regina zone.
The 1,031 tests done Sunday hiked the total in the province to date to 131,944.
Sask. doctor addresses mask-wearing
Masks have been a hot topic of discussion throughout Saskatchewan.
Microbiologist Dr. Joseph Blondeau was on Gormley on Monday and spoke about the misconceptions regarding mask-wearing in the province.
“The evidence regarding masks is not great,” Blondeau says. “It doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with them, but the evidence is not great.”
Blondeau spoke about the scientific knowledge that is known about wearing masks, adding he believes there is a lack of scientific literature available describing whether or not masks make a big difference.
“It’s an issue where masks have evolved, and there is no scientific literature to draw upon,” he said.
He added it doesn’t mean masks aren’t useful, just that there needs to be more public information regarding them.
“Just because there isn’t good evidence, it doesn’t mean we should discourage the use,” he said. “If you’re not going to wear a mask properly, or if it isn’t fitted properly, it won’t do anything.”
Blondeau added masks are just another tool that needs to be used in accordance with other public health measures.
“You still need to practise proper hygiene, hand-washing, and sanitization of surfaces,” he said. “If you really want credible up-to-date information, you should visit the Government of Canada’s website, the Government of Saskatchewan’s website, the CDC website, the European Union website, and of course the World Health Organization’s website.
“We need to be careful about where we get our info.”